Obama Reelection a Mandate for Strong, Fair Supreme Court Picks

Washington, DC – People For the American Way Executive Vice President Marge Baker released the following comments on what President Obama’s reelection means for the Supreme Court:

“The future of the Supreme Court is one of the most important consequences of any presidential election, but this time the choice was especially momentous. With the right wing maintaining a narrow majority on the Court, a Romney victory could have meant an entrenched bias on the Court for decades to come.

“Voters were aware of this possibility, and in large numbers rejected it. A Hart Research poll[1] commissioned by People For the American Way and allies in October found that 63 percent of voters saw the Supreme Court as an important issue in determining their vote, and swing voters, by an eleven-point margin, trusted President Obama over Mitt Romney to pick the next Supreme Court justice. In particular, voters were concerned that Romney would choose justices who would side unfairly with corporations over ordinary Americans. That is why both President Obama and Vice President Biden repeatedly emphasized the Court: they recognized it as a winning issue for them.

“This decisive victory gives President Obama a mandate to pick talented, fair-minded jurists on the federal bench and on the Supreme Court. He should use that leverage to fill judicial vacancies with strong candidates and leave a lasting legacy on our courts.”

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With the right wing maintaining a narrow majority on the Court, a Romney victory could have meant an entrenched bias on the Court for decades to come.